Publication Order of Bone Witch Books

Rin Chupeco is a Filipino author from Manilla in the Philippines that has made waves with yer young adult horror fiction novels in “The Girl From the Well” and the “Bone Witch” series. Before she became a published author Chupeco was a writer of complicated computer programs though for the most part her portfolio consisted of graphics, web designs, and logos. She was always a tomboy and while her sister loved girly things such as fashion, her earliest memories were barging into her Barbie dollhouse with Ghost busters and Ninja Turtle action figures. She would wear baggy pants, took up tae kwon do and played basketball. However, she also fell in love with girly things such as mascara and makeup as she grew up and asserts that this is what informs her perception of a strong heroine as not necessarily looking like a man. Growing up she loved mystery and horror stories and was always fascinated by ghost stories. Her inspiration were the likes of Christopher Pike, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and Peter Straub. But she also loved crime thrillers and read books about forensic crime procedure, whodunits, serial killers from the likes of Boris Akunin and Agatha Christie. As she grew older she gravitated towards young adult fiction as it reminds her of the stumbles and mistakes of early adult life. She now writes young adult fiction featuring fairy tales and ghosts. When she is not writing she loves to cross stitch, embroider, make clay things, paint sculpt, draw and tackle long walks.

Living in the Philippines, publishing was very difficult given that not many people in her home country including her very close friends and family supported her choice of career. For a long time she almost believed that it was impossible to make a career on the international scene until she met Neil Gaiman, who encouraged her to go or her dream and write. This was a time when she was working a crappy nine to five job that she hated and wanted out of desperately. Chupeco started with short stories which were published in online and local independent publications that did not offer much financial compensation. She would soon graduate to the writing of novels and wrote a book that she started querying to publishers. She got nowhere and soon realized that she had made the rookie mistake of not polishing her work before submission. She shelved her first novel and drawing inspiration from an odd conversation with a colleague and her experiences in the old building that she once worked in decided to pen a horror novel. Falling back on her fascination with psychological ghost stories and weird Asian folktale she finished the manuscript for The Girl From the Well within three months. She knew that the novel was different enough and was sure there was nothing similar to it out there. A few queries later, Rin received several queries and decided to go with Nicole LaBombard and Rebecca Podos of Helen Rees Agency. Within a few months she was a published author with Sourcebooks and has never looked back since.

In writing “The Girl From The Well’ series of novels, Rin Chupeco was inspired by the Japanese folklore “The Dish Mansion at Bancho” otherwise known as “Bancho Sarayashiki”. The tale which is also known as “Okiku and the Nine Plates” has several versions all of which include the lead character thrown in a well, a missing plate and a lover scorned. Rin had a Japanese friend that was a folklore and history major that explained the story behind the movie “The Ring” as derived from the Bancho Sarayashiki. Soon after, she bought all manner of Japanese mythology and folklore books, particularly anything to do with ghosts or written by Lafcadio Hearn. The novels gave her unique insights into Japanese culture beyond the J-dramas and anime that many are familiar with in the contemporary scene. For her real plotting and core of her novels she modeled it on the plot of the TV show Dexter a serial killer that transforms from a villain into an enthralling tragic hero. Given that most ghosts are the antagonists that kill and hunt humans or what they did in a previous life, Rin decided to turn the concept on its head.

“The Girl from the Well” is Chupeco Rin’s debut novel derived from one of the most thrilling of Japanese ghost stories. It has variously been described as “The Grudge” Meets “Dexter” for its dark themes. A dead girl named Okiku wanders the streets hunting murderers and child killers including the man that had killed her and disposed of her body in a well three centuries past. She is walking down the streets counting things, observing life and wandering as she has done for years when she bumps into a boy with a malevolent and strange secret inside him. The man in question is a strange boy who has just moved to a neighborhood to find untold terrors. A ghost of a girl he had killed is now an unavenged spirit who appears as a decaying and bloated ghost strangling him with her bony arms and her knees pressed onto his back. Soon there are two girls who can see each other and want him dead.

“The Suffering” is an explosive horror novel that starts out with Ki and Tark having to exorcise a ghost which is quite a complicated affair. Tark who is still a teenager learns that some kids that he goes to school with have some evil nature making his days and nights even harder. At some point the three friends Ki, Callie, and Tark travel to Japan to try to help Kagura their friend find a group of American tourists that were lost in suicide forest. They discover that the Suicide Forest has a lot of hidden secrets that include ritual killing, suicides, and of course ghosts. Once Callie and Tark get into the forest with volunteers from the nearby city, they are separated from the main group. Ki and Tark now have to fight ghosts though Ki has an easier time of it given that she is a stronger ghost. Nonetheless, all the ghost fighting is taking a huge toll on her psyche.

Master of the standalone thriller genre, Shari Lapena, is back. Author of The Couple Next Door and A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest is the latest novel by Shari. It takes place in a cozy mountain lodge in Winter where various people are staying for a romantic getaway. A blizzard cuts off the power and any contact with the outside world so everyone settles in for the long haul. Then a guest dies. And another. Knowing Shari's other books, this should be one we'll be reading late into the night. For more details or to pre-order, visit our Shari Lapena page.

Recommendations

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Featured Series

Our book series of the month is the Will Robie Series by David Baldacci. If you like Mitch Rapp, Jack Reacher, Jason Bourne etc then you'll love the Will Robie series. These are page turners to the max too and Baldacci knows how to keep you going all night long!

Featured Author

Bill Wenham is the author of various book series including The Inspector Charrington Mysteries and the Inspector Bruce Mysteries. He just started writing in his 80s to follow a life long dream. It’s an amazing story and the books he has written are pretty great too – his passion really shines through. Read more about Bills books.

Did You Know…

When not writing, Brad Taylor serves as a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies.